BP Note: Welcome to the last Must Haves of 2019! This year has both seemed to go quickly and last forever. I know lots in the community have been dealing with higher levels of stress then normal which is taking its toll. I want to thank all of you who are involved in writing, editing, designing covers, representing as agents, distributing, and talking books because you provide so much more than you know! As always here are the books we are aware of that we look forward to reading this month. Please let us know what we missed.
Happy reading!
~E
- Contemporary Romance
- Contemporary Retelling
- Historical Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Historical Romance
- Horror/Thriller
- Paranormal Romance
- Romantic Suspense
- Space Opera
- Urban Fantasy
Contemporary Romance
Duty or Desire (Westmoreland Legacy #5) by Brenda Jackson – 3 Dec (Harlequin Desire)
What happens when a man of unshakable conviction … meets the woman who rocks his world?
Pete Higgins is an honorary Westmoreland, a man of his word—of course he’ll put duty to his orphaned niece first. Too bad the temporary nanny is tempting him with every look. Myra Hollister captivates him. But she’s keeping dangerous secrets, the kind that remind Pete of all he’s lost before and what he can’t afford to lose again…
Mangos & Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera – 23 Dec (Self)
Kiskeya Burgos left the tropical beaches of the Dominican Republic with a lot to prove. As a pastry chef on the come up, when she arrives in Scotland, she has one goal in mind: win the Holiday Baking Challenge. Winning is her opportunity to prove to her family, her former boss, and most importantly herself, she can make it in the culinary world. Kiskeya will stop at nothing to win , that is, if she can keep her eyes on the prize and off her infuriating teammate’s perfect lips.
Sully Morales, home cooking hustler, and self-proclaimed baking brujita lands in Scotland on a quest to find her purpose after spending years as her family’s caregiver. But now, with her home life back on track, it’s time for Sully to get reacquainted with her greatest love, baking. Winning the Holiday Baking Challenge is a no brainer if she can convince her grumpy AF baking partner that they make a great team both in and out of the kitchen before an unexpected betrayal ends their chance to attain culinary competition glory.
Every New Year (Love at Last #1) by Katrina Jackson – 31 Dec (Self)
When Ezra Posner was eighteen, he met Candace Garret and fell in love.
When Candace met Ezra, she instantly knew he was the boy for her.
In the middle of their first year at college, Candace and Ezra share a clumsy kiss that should have been the beginning of an epic love affair, but it’s not. Instead, it begins a nearly two-decade journey of never quite getting the timing right for love. For almost every New Year’s Eve after, Candace and Ezra stumble into one another’s arms, but can’t manage to hold onto each other for more than a single night. They live with the expectant giddiness of being able to spend New Year’s Eve with the person they love, always hoping that next year will be their year. Until eventually, their annual trysts ruin even the friendship that held them together.
As 2019 ends, Candace and Ezra are both running away from their broken hearts. They board a plane hoping to finally move on from their relationship, only to run right into each other’s arms.
Contemporary Retelling
Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra – 3 Dec (Berkley)
The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.
Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.
One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.
Historical Fantasy
The Case of the Spellbound Child (Elemental Masters #14) by Mercedes Lackey – 3 Dec (DAW)
While Sherlock is still officially dead, John and Mary Watson and Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White are taking up some of his case-load–and some for Lord Alderscroft, the Wizard of London.
Lord Alderscroft asks them to go to Dartmoor to track down a rumor of evil magic brewing there. Not more than four hours later, a poor cottager, also from Dartmoor, arrives seeking their help. His wife, in a fit of rage over the children spilling and spoiling their only food for dinner that night, sent them out on the moors to forage for something to eat. This is not the first time she has done this, and the children are moor-wise and unlikely to get into difficulties. But this time they did not come back, and in fact, their tracks abruptly stopped “as if them Pharisees took’d ’em.” The man begs them to come help.
They would have said no, but there’s the assignment for Alderscroft. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
But the deadly bogs are not the only mires on Dartmoor.
Historical Fiction
The Wicked Redhead (Wicked City #2) by Beatriz Williams – 10 Dec (William Morrow)
New York City, 1998: When Ella Gilbert discovers her banker husband is cheating on her, she loses both her marriage and the life she knew. In her new apartment in an old Greenwich Village building, she’s found unexpected second love with Hector, a musician who lives upstairs. And she’s discovered something else, just as surprising—a connection to the mesmerizing woman scandalously posed in a vintage photograph titled Redhead Beside Herself.
Florida, 1924: Geneva “Gin” Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from Appalachia, barely survived a run-in with her notorious bootlegger stepfather. She and Oliver Anson, a Prohibition agent she has inconveniently fallen in love with, take shelter in Cocoa Beach, a rum-running haven. But the turmoil she tried to leave behind won’t be so easily outrun. Anson’s mother, the formidable Mrs. Marshall, descends on Florida with a proposition that propels Gin back to the family’s opulent New York home, and into a reluctant alliance. Then Anson disappears during an investigation, and Gin must use all her guile and courage to find him.
Two very different women, separated by decades. Yet as Ella tries to free herself from her ex, she is also hunting down the truth about the captivating, wicked Redhead in her photograph—a woman who loved and lived fearlessly. And as their link grows, she feels Gin urging her on, daring her to forge her own path, wherever it leads.
Historical Romance
BP Note:This title is found on Amazon under The Duchess Deception and on Goodreads and Barnes and Noble as A Delicate Deception.
A Delicate Deception (Regency Imposters #3) by Cat Sebastian – 10 Dec (Avon)
When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if—she grudgingly admits—passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn’t work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses.
The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her.
But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney’s ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?
The Prince of Broadway (Uptown Girls #2) by Joanna Shupe – 30 Dec (Avon)
Powerful casino owner.
Ruthless mastermind.
Destroyer of men.He lives in the shadows…
As the owner of the city’s most exclusive casino, Clayton Madden holds the fortunes of prominent families in the palms of his hands every night. There is one particular family he burns to ruin, however, one that has escaped his grasp… until now.
She is society’s darling…
Florence Greene is no one’s fool. She knows Clayton Madden is using her to ruin her prestigious family… and she’s using him right back. She plans to learn all she can from the mysterious casino owner—then open a casino of her own just for women.
With revenge on his mind, Clay agrees to mentor Florence. However, she soon proves more adept—and more alluring—than Clay bargained for. When his plans are threatened, Clay must decide if he is willing to gamble his empire on love.
Horror/Thriller
A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh – 3 Dec (Berkley)
On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.
That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.
Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.
It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.
Paranormal Romance
Valley of the Shadow (Elemental World #4.5) by Elizabeth Hunter – 10 Dec (Recurve Press LLC)
“I’m sure of you. Everything else, we’ll figure out along the way.”
For eight years, Baojia and Natalie have pursued their goals: family, career, friendship and love—trying to carve out an ordinary life in an immortal world. And for eight years they’ve been mostly successful save for a world-bending adventure every now and then.
Except that their life was never ordinary. It was never going to be.
Natalie and Baojia might have made plans, but when ordinary life comes crashing down, they’ll have to turn to the family they have chosen—vampire and human—for help keeping their world together.
Five couples, four kids, three weeks, two paths… and a partridge in a pear tree?
For Natalie Ellis, it’s time to come home.
Steel Heart (Jesse Alexander #2) by R.J. Blain – 25 Dec (Pen & Page Publishing)
With the Hope Diamond locked around her throat, Jesse Alexander finds herself in the unfortunate position of being a walking national treasure. With the Starfall stone poised to pulse and flood the world with more of its magic, she must figure out how to remove it before she becomes its pawn yet again.
Unfortunately, the stone has a mind—and plans—of its own. Add in a determined tiger, a wolf out for revenge, and an ultimatum to find her clan’s missing Starfall stone, and it will take all of Jesse’s wit and cunning to survive with her life—and her heart—intact.
Romantic Suspense
The Secret She Keeps (Whitaker Island #2) by HelenKay Dimon – 30 Dec (Avon)
No matter where you run to…
Connor Rye seeks solace on remote Whitaker Island. When his first quiet evening ends with a blow to the head, it’s clear that nothing—and no one—is as it seems. Still haunted by his sister’s murder, he’s buried himself in work while trying to hold his family together. Now, when he has a minute to breathe, he knows better than to get involved with a stranger, but it might be too late to keep his distance.
Desire will find you…
For years she’s pretended to be someone else, but Maddie Rhine is done living in the shadows. Old habits are hard to kick however, and when her past follows her to Whitaker she’s forced to hide once more. Except with Connor. Effortlessly sexy Connor makes it difficult to ignore him. He sees right through her…and senses her fear.
Someone is watching her. And waiting for the right moment to strike. This time Connor vows to be ready.
Space Opera
Down Among the Dead (The Farian War #2) by K.B. Wagers – 3 Dec (Orbit)
Gunrunner empress Hail Bristol must navigate alien politics and deadly plots to prevent an interspecies war, in this second novel in the Farian War space opera trilogy.
In a surprise attack that killed many of her dearest subjects, Hail Bristol, empress of Indrana, has been captured by the Shen – the most ruthless and fearsome aliens humanity has ever encountered. As she plots her escape, the centuries-long war between her captors and the Farians, their mortal enemies and Indrana’s oldest allies, finally comes to a head.
When her captors reveal a shocking vision of the future, Hail must make the unexpectedly difficult decision she’s been avoiding: whether to back the Shen or the Farians.
Staying neutral is no longer an option. Will Hail fight? Or will she fall?
Urban Fantasy
The Eternal Return (Wild Hunt #10) by Yasmine Galenorn – 27 Dec (Nightqueen Enterprises)
With the Tuathan Brotherhood taken care of, Ember and the Wild Hunt gear up for the coming darkness that threatens to plunge their lives into chaos. But first, they take on the ancient liche who stole Talia’s powers. Lazarus is living near Winter Hall Magical Academy, located near Mt. Rainier. Over the centuries, he’s grown so strong that it seems futile to take him on. But with Lazarus stalking the students, stealing not only their magical powers but their lives, the Wild Hunt can’t allow him to roam free. Before they can confront him, Talia takes it on herself to reconnoiter the situation and ends up trapped in a maniacal web that easily spell her death. Now, Ember and Herne must race against time before Lazarus finds her first.
Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) by Lauren Dane – 30 Dec (Carina)
Rowan Summerwaite is ready to finish what she started in Blood and Blade , the next installment in the Goddess with a Blade series by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane.
It’s been only days since Rowan and her friends eliminated the immediate threat to magic users and Vampires, but they’re already back on the hunt. Rowan’s out for vengeance, and she’s never been more driven—or angry. But she’s up against a being stronger than any she’s ever fought. To bring it down she’ll need more than the powers the goddess Brigid gave her…
This time she’ll need her friends, too.
She knows her husband will always have her back. As an ancient Vampire and Scion of North America, Clive has more clout and dominance than almost anyone. Rowan’s small but trusted inner circle insist they’ll join her in the thick of the battle, even as she argues it’s too dangerous for them. She’s also got a new dog. Familiar. Whatever. Star is a magical being put in Rowan’s path to help and protect her.
The hunt for ancient evil takes Rowan and her team to London and back to Las Vegas, bringing with them an unexpected alliance. Fortified by their rage, grief and determination, Rowan and her friends will stop at nothing when they track their enemy to the high desert in a final, deadly showdown.
Sin & Spirit (Demigod of San Franscisco #4) by K.F. Breene – 31 Dec (Hazy Dawn Press)
Kieran has stepped up to take his place as the ruler of magical San Francisco. As his girlfriend, that unfortunately means I’m under the magnifying glass. Everything I do is noticed, from how I act to how I style my hair. Most notably, of course, is how little I know about my magic.
The Hades Demigods want me on their team, and they don’t plan to ask nicely. Kieran and I are both under fire. They will kill him to get to me, and they’ll take me by force if necessary. It is essential I learn more of my magic.
With no other options, I do what scares me the most – I summon the last Spirit Walker to help train me. Except, he’s a loose cannon with looser morals and learning spirit is treacherous. I might evade the Demigods only to be lost in spirit forever.
The monthly Must Have list is a compilation of the upcoming release titles that we, The Book Pushers, just can’t wait to get our hands on. Don’t see a title you’re excited about listed here? Add it to the comments section below. Let us know what you’re looking forward to!